Page 18 - Classy Hamburgers

back of page 17 = page 18

I'm a classy lady.  I want my hamburgers classy, like me.

Also "the beef juices don't know which way to run..."  Gotcha now beef juices!

Page 17 - Basic Meat Loaf & 15 Minute Meat Loaf

page 17

More meatloaf!  I warned you!  Florence Worman loved meatloaf.  I'm not joking.  These are number 3 and 4 on our meatloaf counter.

Here's what's cool about these two.  Check out  middle paragraph on the Basic Meat Loaf clipping....

yeah, that's right - cupcake sized meat loafs!  AWESOME!  Also topped with a square of bacon!  The woman who wrote this was half a century ahead of her time.  Bacon topped meat cupcakes?|?   Grown a handlebar moustashe, break out the old-timey font, and rent a garage and you've got Williamsburg's hottest new restaurant.  Lets call it MEAT CAKES!

I am suspicious of the second clipping.  First of all the entire title is a lie - "The 15 - minute Meat Loaf (PLUS 5)"  You don't have to have an advanced maths degree to know that's 20 minutes.  If it's 20 minutes say 20 minutes lady.  If you want to lie to yourself, that's fine, but this is a paper or record!

We say they were the greatest generation and then I see things like this.....I don't know I just don't know.

Page 15 - 16 - Vegetable Soup - Dumplings

page 15

back of page 15 = page 16

Okay, so this page looks different, and there is a good reason for that.  When I got this binder from my mother there was a hefty little pile of loose clippings and notes stuck in the back of the binder.  So instead of leaving them there to get lost in the mists of time, I made new pages in the same style as Florence's original pages.  I put a header and footer on each page letting who ever reads the book in the future know that these were added at a later date.  I sorted the recipes and tried to add them in the  proper categories.  

I just wanted to secure the little bits of dangerously floating paper while staying true to Florence's original vision for the book.

These recipes are a bit hard to read so I will transpose them here:

Vegetable Soup

2.5 to 3 lb chuck

2 to 2.5 bags of mixed veg (1 lb bags)

1/2 small head of cabbage

about 6 stalks of celery

3 medium size potatoes

2 cans of tomatoes

2 medium or large onions

That's all, nothing written on the back, but if you can't figure out a vegetable soup - you're over thinking this whole cooking thing.  Have more confidence!

Dumplings for stew or sauerkraut

This is 1/4 of the recipe

1/2 C. Flour

1 tsp. Baking Powder (written as B. Powder - I am assuming baking powder)

1/8th tsp. salt 

1/4 C. milk or water

mix all together and drop by spoonfuls on top of stew or kraut, cover and boil for about 20 minutes.

Must have enough liquid in the pot so it wont boil dry.

over...

The full recipe is on page 24 in my Metropolitan Cookbook

Well that is interesting.  Metropolitan Cookbook?  Dumplings in sauerkraut?  

I looked up what the Metropolitan cookbook might be and came across this chowhound article  - a full page of links to complete old recipe books.  Very cool.  BUT the Metropolitan cookbook it links to doesn't have a dumpling recipe on page 24!  Foiled again!

Page 14 - Chicken Salad, Crab Cakes & Crab Meat Salad

page 14

Sideways! Florence!  Grandma!  You outside the box thinker. This doesn't translate well to the digital age.  Lets see if we can fix this....

That's better.

So Grandma Worman clearly liked this chicken salad recipe because it was typed up, probably in a previous version of her recipe collection, then cut out of that old version and put into this final compilation.    

But here is my question - what are "1 - 2 in squares pieces of green?" 

Is that lettuce?  Peppers?

Any info would be appreciated.

Page 13 - Spinach Soup

page 13

Spinach Soup
Baked Apples in Foil.

The notes on the soup recipe are:
" or crisco oil"
"1 teasp"
" I used canned milk half + half."

From what I can tell of the old bits of tape left on the page, there was a second recipe next to this one but it has disappeared. From how organized the book was, I'm guessing she just took them out because the weren't up to snuff any more.  

Page 12 - Creamy Tomato Soup

back of page 11 = page 12

So this is the first example of Florence's hand writing.
"These are soups to make from scratch if you don't have meat."

I love how she wrote this with an audience in mind. Who was she thinking of?  Her daughter Louise? Her granddaughters Bonnie and Merrie?

There is a recipe missing next to this soup recipe from the old tape marks but there was no sign of it in the loose clippings in the back of the book.  Also the hand written note on the clipping reads:
"never made this fresh sounds good"

There is a cut off recipe for Country Crisp Tomatoes - fried green tomatoes from what I can tell.

Page 11 - Beef Barbecue (Mrs. Kneller) & Barbecued Pork Chops

page 11

I think this beef barbecue recipe might be the one that has been passed down as a the sloppy joe recipe.  Anybody know?  Either way this one looks like a favorite of Grandma Worman, as it has a star next to it.

I also do not know who Mrs. Kneller is.  Just more to add to the list of questions for Grammy :)

Page 10 - Sloppy Joe (Doreen Horst) & 3 Clipped Recipes

page 10

Grandma Worman was famous in our family for her sloppy joe recipe, which my Grandmother now makes.  But I don't know if this is the version that has been passed down or if it is another version in the book.  Anyone in the family know if this is the popular one?

The other recipes on this page are:
Breaded Pork Chops
Mexican Steak
Sausage Pasta (Spaghetti with meat sauce)

I am transposing the Mexican Steak recipe because it is something unique I have never seen before.  Totally not what I thought it would be.

Mexican Steak
1.5 lbs. round steak
Butter
Finely cut onion
Celery salt
Pepper
Salt

Pound round steak to make it tender.  Spread with butter, then cover with finely cut onions, celery salt, pepper and ordinary salt to taste, and roll in a long roll.  Tie together with cord, and dot with butter.  Bake in pan spread with butter.  Keep pan covered for about one hour in moderate oven, then uncover and brown.  Use drippings for gravy.

Weird right?

Page 8 - 9 - Pork & Veal Loaf also Roast Turkey with Sausage Bread Stuffing

page 8

backside of page 8 = page 9

To magnify this page please see my previous post on magnifying websites.

I will transpose the newspaper clipping as it is pretty small.

Pork and Veal Loaf

1 egg

3-4 cups milk

1-3 tsp. sage

1 1/2 tsp salt

a few grains of pepper

2 cups soft bread crumbs

1 onion

1 lb. pork shoulder, ground

1 tblsp. chopped celery

1 lb. veal shoulder, ground

Beat egg: add milk, sage, salt and pepper. Add bread crumbs. Let stand 5 minutes. Mix well.  Pack meat mixture into greased loaf pan. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees F) 1 1/2 hours.

The other recipes are for:

Roast Turkey

Sausage -Bread Stuffing

How to magnify the website.

Looking at the scanned pages on the website, I realize that some of the clipped recipes are hard to read without expanding them.  And as I don't really want to transpose all of the clipped recipes I'll just walk you through a quick shortcut to magnify the page.

1. Use your mouse to click anywhere on the page you are viewing to let the computer know that this page is the one you want to expand.

2.  Press down on the control key "ctrl" which is located at the bottom right and left corners of your keyboard.

3. While holding the control key down, at the same time, press the + button.  The + button is located to the left of the backspace key. (the delete key, sometimes.).  Each time you press the + button while holding down the control key the page will magnify.

4. To return the page to its normal size (100%) just press the minus button (-) while holding down the control    key.

If you have a mouse with a scroller on it. ( A little wheel that acts like an up or down arrow when you use it.)   You can press down the control key and they use the scroller to magnify or shrink the page you are viewing.


I hope this is helpful.

page 7 - Virginia Baked Ham & 5 clipped meat dishes

page 7

Six recipes today.  The first being a Virgina Baked Ham.  It sounds like you have to boil the living dickens out of this ham (15 minutes per pound) and then bake it.  It doesn't sound like this is a pre-cured ham.  It almost sounds like she got the ham roast raw and then cured it herself?  Strange.  Any information would be welcome.    

The other recipes are equally antiquated.   Some were cutout of newspapers and magazines, then pasted to index cards, then pasted onto the page in the book.  

The Premium Meat Loaf  got an arrow next to it so I shall transpose it here in case it is hard to read.

Premium Meat Loaf

1 lb. chopped beef.

1 small onion (minced).

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 eggs.

12 Premium Soda Crackers.

1 cup canned tomatoes.

To meat, add onion, salt and pepper, and eggs.  Mix all together and shape into loaf.  Place in a buttered baking dish.  Cover with tomatoes.  Bake in a moderate oven (375 F) 1/2 hour basting 2 or 3 times.  Preparation 6 minutes.  6-8 portions.

Sheesh - those early 1900 women were dynamos!  Prepping a meatloaf in 6 minutes!  I mean I'm sure it can be done but those ladies had their cooking game tight!  I would love someone to try this and see what their prep time clocks in as.  

The other recipes on the page include:

Pot Roast or Beef

Broiled Chicken

Lamb Meat Cakes

Baked Stuffed Lamb Chops

The broiled chicken deserves a read, because it assumes you would be singeing off the feathers, and removing the chickens internal organs.  Which you can still get in NYC a live chicken and have it butchered and plucked in front of you, but honestly, I've seen it done and plucked a chicken, and technology is on our side in this endeavor.  Also the recipe assumes you are cooking this in an wood fire oven.  I wonder when this was clipped.

 

Page 6 - Frying Pan Meatloaf

page 6

Another meatloaf!  Yes of course!  And again with "Table Talk" with Sammy Anderson on W.K.A.P. I would love to know what kind of program this was and what time of the week it was on.  Clearly, it was a regular appointment for Florence.

This recipe is interesting as it involves no baking and also uses precooked rice.  Something to do with left over Chinese takeout perhaps?  Worth a try!

Just a heads up, after perusing the rest of the binder, this is not even close to the end of the meatloaf recipes.  Two and counting!

Page 5 - Juicy Cheese Meat Loaf

page 5

Another in Florence's series of "Table Talk" recipes from W.K.A.P.  I spoke with my grandmother today, Florence's only child, and she said that she doesn't remember these recipes as particular favorites of her mother's.  Grammy thought that her mother probably tried these recipes once or twice but they were not regular dishes.

I haven't tried this dish yet, but meatloaf is a family favorite and I want to give this one a whirl.

Page 4 - Round Steak (tenderized)

page 4

Page 4, Round Steak (tenderized) continues the faithful documentation of Sammy Anderson's  culinary radio program, "Table Talk," on W.K.A.P.   For more on Sammy Anderson, see page 3.

Round Steak is a lean cut of meat from the primal round, meaning the back leg. The image below shows where the cut comes from in the big picture.  It is courtesy of About.com's culinary section. Where they explain that this is a very lean muscle that can be tough if not cooked properly.  They recommend a moist heat like this recipe puts forward.    

The image below is courtesy of  Ask The Meat Man, shows what a round steak could look like depending on what part of the leg it comes from.

And one last note, salad oil, in my family can be any kind of preferred cooking oil, but probably was corn oil at the time of this recipe.   I'm not convinced that Florence Worman would have used salad oil, since that side of the family seemed to love simmering onions in butter.  I mean, who doesn't love the smell of onions in butter?  But being French I think it would have been hard for Florence to bypass the butter in favor of oil.  Just my opinion.  I have no proof of this.

Also, I have no idea if the (tenderized) means that she pounded the steak before cooking, like a schnitzel  or if the cooking itself tenderized it.  Research from readers would be appreciated!

Page 3 - Baked Pork Chops

page 3

A classic.  A baked chop in a savory tomato sauce.  I love the word "chop".  Steaks, Chops, Cocktails - I'll always happily enter an establishment with those words on the awning.

The recipe credit, Table Talk, on W.K.A.P, Sammy Anderson, is so amazingly specific, it deserves research.  Sammy Anderson was a radio announcer on Leigh Valley radio stations starting back in the 1920's although he didn't work for WKAP until 1966.  He worked there for decades, and even after retiring was brought back in 1998 to spin the oldies but goodies for his long term fans.   He finally passed away in 2002, and from his obituary sounds like a lovely man.

I love how specific Grandma Worman was in her record keeping.  A lesser woman would have said "from the radio," but Florence knew the program, the station, and the announcer.

Page 2 - Pork Kidney & Souse

page 2

Diving right in: I have not tried either one of these recipes, to my knowledge.  But they got top billing so I suppose they must be good.

Pop Berdelle was Florence's father, Victor Berdelle.  He was a French immigrant from Alsace Lorraine, but at the time of his immigration, the area  was over run by the Germans.  The only part of my family tree that isn't from Germany, was sometimes German.  Go figure.   Victor Berdelle was married to Clara Berdelle, and their daughter was Florence.  Victor was a machinist in Allentown, and this is how he liked his pork kidneys.

*******************************************

Souse, is defined by Merriam Webster as  1: something pickled; especially : seasoned and chopped pork trimmings, fish, or shellfish 2: an act of sousing : wetting 3 a : a habitual drunkard b : a drinking spree : binge.  

You can make souse, or get soused, or get soused while you make souse. Here is an image of souse compliments of  Rawtalent's Club Eclectica Blog.  Clearly an accomplished chef who knows their way around extreme boiled meats.  

I like that Florence starts her book with these two big league recipes. Its like she's trying to chase away the amateurs, or to let her future readers know this isn't just some lame chocolate chip apple pie fluff piece.  She starts with pigs feet and kidneys so tighten up those apron strings and start hacking those feet.  Welcome to the big leagues.

Also I love the last paragraph of the page.....

",then pour in square or round cake pans.  Mine made 2 pans. It was just right."

Right on Grandma Worman, right on.

*** update from my mother, Florence's granddaughter:
I made the pork kidneys with Grandma once to learn how to do it. The kidneys are tricky to cut and I remember that they dulled the knife so we had to sharpen it during the process. They also don't smell great until you soak them. But they do taste very good in this recipe! It is a savory flavor, a hint of spice and just barely noticeable vinegar. If you can't bring yourself to do kidneys, it also works well with heart. 
You thicken the sauce "in the usual way" by making flour water and stirring it into the simmering liquid. This dish is always served over noodles and I remember her making homemade noodles for it. It was a very special meal!

Page 1 - Meats.

page 1

Well, let us begin at the beginning.  My great-grandmother left behind 2 small binders.  The first is for cooking recipes, the second for deserts and baking.  They hold a half sheet of paper (8.5"x 5.5").  They have adorable title pages for the different, loosely organized sections.  I am going to try and find a way to make print-outs for each page, so that members of Grandma Worman's family can print out their own copies of the cookbook.  

Some of these recipes I have tried and some I can not yet vouch for.  If you test the recipes, please include your notes and experiences in the comments.